Speaking to Your Audience…


Gia Gunn looking skeptical says well what you wanna do is not necessarily what you're gonna do


Learning Objectives

Part 1: The Two Types of Peer-Reviewed Science Articles

“Science is a search for evidence. Science communication is a search for meaning.” (ElShafie, 2018)

How do we incorporate our evidence into a form of communication that has meaning for an audience?

Coming into this Discussion Section, you have completed a literature search investigating two papers from the primary research literature and one primary review literature.

As you debrief with your discussion group, start by sharing a conversation on the following questions:

Your next step is to conduct a similar search in the primary literature for your own SciComm topic, based on a topic or presentation you learned about in class! Keep in mind that this doesn’t have to be a whole thesis - a few well-chosen articles from the primary literature will serve you well.

Part 2: Target Audience and Accessibility

Think about the difference between a nature show for children (like Wild Kratts) and a science program aimed at adults (like Green Porno or like Nature).

Naturally, there will be some differences in how science is communicated based on the intended audience.

Science communication, therefore, is framed specifically around the needs, desires, and interests of a target audience. Target audiences can be very broad, such as the general public (like PBS’ Nature), or they can be narrower, such as a specific group of learners (who is Green Porno’s target audience?).

What are some examples of target audiences that partake in science communication media, based on some of the examples you’ve already seen in these modules? Brainstorm with your groups.

Each target audience will have a certain combination of demographics and psychographics.

Demographics are quantifiable categories which target audiences identify with or share. Examples of Target Audience Demographics may include (and this list is not exhaustive):

Psychographics are how the target audience may think or feel, and includes audience aspirations, preconceived ideas, or attitudes about a topic.

For example: Your target audience may be students and teachers within a Boston-area, 1st grade, urban school class (demographic); when talking with teachers, you may discover they feel anxious about teaching students in a remote environment, and the students themselves want fun and engaging cartoon material (psychographics).

What is Accessibility?

Accessibility = a concept that results in accommodating a resource or physical environment so that it is equitably reached, entered into, and utilized by people with disabilities.

All target audiences deserve equitable, quality science communication. For the purposes of this Inclusive Design Project, accessibility may refer most specifically to audiences with disabilities, as well as the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities (which have strong pride in Deaf and Hard of Hearing culture, language, and values; please note that individuals in this culture may not self-identify as disabled).

To ensure our science communication is equitable and fair to all audiences, we must consider this kind of accessibility specifically in our work.

What are some examples of implementing accessibility best practices?

How do we know we have achieved our accessibility goals?

SciComm and Accessibility Resources

Once you’ve identified your desired target audience, give some thought to what methods of science communication might work best for them. This might involve finding other forms of science communication that targets the same audience, talking to members of that audience, or reading literature that investigates the needs of that audience specifically.

The following resources will help guide your science communication and accessibility implementation as it aligns with your target audience:

Science Communication Resources

Accessibility Resources

Media Resources

When Considering Which Medium to Choose…

Decide early in your planning process - by next week’s Discussion section - which media type you wish to use. While this particular component is not graded, your TF will be checking to see progress towards project completion is being made each week.

Decide whether you will create:

  • An Adobe Creative Cloud presentation (i.e., an infographic) - you can access it for free at BU.
  • A short, less-than-5-minutes, documentary-style video
  • A series of mock social media posts (5-10 Tweets in a thread)
  • A science-based webcomic
  • A TikTok video
  • A short, less-than-5-minutes, podcast
  • Another creative option of your choosing (please communicate ideas to your TF)

How will you and your teammates delegate your work?

Ensure you are communicating with one another and ensuring each group member has a role to play in making progress towards project completion, each week!

For Next Week…

Please make sure to have your group, target audience, and media type decided upon. You should begin outlining and constructing your science communication piece.

Throughout your project, read and utilize this document Expectations for the Creative Discovery Project to get a sense of what your end goals should be.

Back to SciComm Home

Please note: the SciComm aspects of this course are based closely on a similar course at UC Berkeley, IB35ac, designed by Leslea Hlusko (© 2020). These materials have been accessed and adapted with her permission as part of the BRIDGE Project, developed by her student, Ph.D. Candidate Taormina Lepore.